


Closing Time

by cresstic



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canon Universe, Exhibition Program, Future, M/M, Skating, Songfic, pair skating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-02
Updated: 2017-05-02
Packaged: 2018-10-27 02:49:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10800138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cresstic/pseuds/cresstic
Summary: Yuuri and Victor finish off the last competition of the season with a pair skating rendition of "Closing Time" by Semisonic, and Yuuri can't help but reflect on the emotions the program captures.





	Closing Time

As the opening guitar began, they pushed off, heading opposite directions across the ice.

Their round-the-clock work was over. Hours upon hours of grueling practice for the past few months had paid off in the form of the shining medals left at the boards. It was a wrap for this competition, for these programs, for the whole season.

Soon, the people in the stands would file out, releasing skaters to press to fans out into the world. The lone spotlights that currently glittered across the ice would be turned off, and the rest of the rink would settle once again into a dark serenity. Soon, they would all be going home, ready for some well-deserved rest and maybe some celebration with friends.

Yuuri twisted before he hit the edge, quickly sliding into a glide along the boards. Across the rink, he glimpsed Victor doing the same, following his every move with well-trained precision.

They had spent the last few years training side by side, sometimes as coach and student, other times as competitors. Their time together on ice had morphed into something similar off ice: always nearby, if not together. There was little they did separately anymore; they ate together, worked out together, laughed and cried together, and each night fell asleep beside one another. Each day, they did it all again.

As Yuuri turned towards the center of the rink, Victor mirrored the same. The spotlights cast an angelic halo on the man’s silver hair (which despite his constant protest  _ was _ thinning, but Yuuri found it endearing) and glinted in his crystal blue eyes. Each stroke brought them closer together, and as the beat kicked up, their hands met.

The drums followed the sway of their bodies, the guitar the slicing of their blades. Trapped in a constant push and pull, a kick, a jump, a crossover, a twirl. All so complicated, and yet by now, second nature. He glanced up at Victor’s face to see the adoring eyes he first met so long ago, among a haze of nerves and champagne; eyes he knew that were reserved only for him.

However much he loved skating, he was just as excited to go home with this man at the end of the day.

They pushed away again as the music slowed, this time following curves that twined together, before meeting at the far end of the ice. Landing triple axels perfectly in sync, they leaped into a spin, the sudden force a welcoming rush.

It was like falling in love all over again: the weight of everything both pulling and propelling you in place, until your sense of direction was lost and you simply fall into counting the times your life has turned around. 

The drums began again and they lifted out of their spins, each glancing to make sure the calculated space was still between them, before pulling up their legs and launching themselves into side-by-side quad flips.

A memory flashed through Yuuri’s mind from years ago, when the same move spoke more than words could express.

The crowd roared, but quickly quieted as the music shifted. Yuuri began the complicated footwork as he worked his way over to the end of the rink, Victor doing the same heading in the opposite direction. It was similar to the work and process they put into everything, from training to organizing schedules to their love. Many fought against them, made it difficult to persist, and yet they kept on dancing, not afraid to fall because they knew they could help each other up.

The music loudened as they reached the edge, and suddenly they both leaned into a spread eagle, raising the beat and riffs back up with their arms. The audience cheered, their successes shouted back to them a thousand times over. However much they went through - they stopped as they met in the middle, smirking at each other before pushing off - they always had each other. 

Their jumps landed flawlessly with the beat of the drums, filling the stadium with whistles and shouts, almost crowding out the music. They pulled away, twisting and turning into more footwork before skidding to a stop with the music, grabbing each other’s hands.

In that second, Yuuri was enveloped by love. He could see it: in Victor’s eyes, in his smile, in how the anxiety that had taken over his thoughts moments before was swamped. He felt it in their matching outfits, designed to be perfect mirror: one not complete without the other. He felt it in their rings, a promise they had spoken many times before cast in gold.

He may have been in a completely different country, but he had found his home.

Time froze with the music, before diving back in again as they swirled around each other, dipping and leaping and reaching out, their motions bleeding together to create meaning, if not for everyone else, then for them alone.

They pulled away slightly and squatted into sit spins, mirroring each other and rising and falling to the beat of their hearts. They lifted from the spins, stopping short to meet eyes as the drums faded, leaving the final lines to echo across the ice. 

They took slow steps toward each other.

In a few moments, the crowd would rise to their feet. The other skaters would come out and congratulate them for their wins, and they would all celebrate while say their thanks, spotlights glittering down on the ice they had learned to call home. They would all be cheered on as they made their way back to the dressing rooms, gathered their things, and headed out.

In a few moments, it would be the end of the competition, the end of these programs, the end of the season...

But it would also be the end of their careers.

There would be no more international judges following their every move. There would be no more striving to perfect the hardest jumps and footwork in a desperate attempt to keep up with their friends. There would be no more beating their own records at each competition, setting the bar higher and higher. There would be no more need to surprise an audience.

And so, as the lights faded and Yuuri wrapped his arms around Victor’s shoulders, resting his forehead against his lover’s own, he found the tears in his own eyes mirrored in crystal blue ones.

But every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you guys liked this! It's my first time posting a fic so I hope it's not too cringey.  
> Obviously this fic was based off of the song "Closing Time" by Semisonic, which I take no credit for but brings back huge waves of nostalgia for me soooooo yeah.  
> Massive thanks to my friend @moimiles for encouraging me to write and being my beta for this fic (we're switching roles for once).  
> If you want to talk I'm on Twitter @cresstic
> 
> Thank you for reading!


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